In the Spotlight

Sunday's Super Bowl XLIX was a feast of entertainment, ending in a late-game 28-24 win for Tom Brady's New England Patriots. Off the field, the action was more subdued, and the much-anticipated Super Bowl ads were widely regarded as a bit of a let-down.

The final death count of Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines last week, is still a long way from being known. The relief effort is well underway, however, and drinks companies are among those that have moved to support those affected by the disaster.

It was the turn this week of a small brewery in Norwich to wander blinking on to the nation's front pages, in a classic David-and-Goliath story that also fanned the Twitter flames. Though, as it turned out, not all was as it first seemed.

Just how good are Heineken and Anheuser-Busch InBev at sticking to their commitments? That's the question SABMiller will be asking itself this week after Mexico's competition authorities finally answered the brewer's long-standing plea to review its rivals' alleged monopolising of the country's beer market.

It is shaping up to be one of the drinks industry's biggest events of the year. This week, Suntory got approval to list its food and soft drinks unit on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, paving the way for the group to raise as much as US$4.7bn.